PLAINTIFF-STUDENT WAS WATCHING FOOTBALL PRACTICE FROM THE SIDELINES WHEN A BLOCKING SLED, PUSHED BY SEVERAL PLAYERS, VEERED OFF TO THE SIDE AND RAN OVER PLAINTIFF’S FOOT, THE ASSUMPTION OF THE RISK DOCTRINE APPLIES TO SPECTATORS, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court in this negligent supervision action, determined plaintiff-student assumed the risk of injury from a blocking sled during football practice. Plaintiff was not feeling well and was on the sidelines watching practice. He was not paying attention when a blocking sled, pushed by several players, veered toward him and ran over his foot. The court noted that the assumption of risk doctrine applies to bystanders and spectators:

The doctrine of primary assumption of the risk applies not only to participants in a qualified activity, but also to bystanders or spectators who have placed themselves in close proximity to it, “particularly where the record shows that the plaintiff had viable alternatives to [his or] her own location” … . “[T]he spectator at a sporting event, no less than the participant, accepts the dangers that inhere in it so far as they are obvious and necessary'”… .

Here, the defendant established its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. The defendant submitted evidence that the plaintiff fully comprehended the risks inherent in the sport of football, specifically, that a blocking sled could veer to the left or the right while it was being used in a drill … . M.F. v Jericho Union Free Sch. Dist., 2019 NY Slip Op 03781, Second Dept 5-15-19